I have some food for thought for you! I got the chance to test the Bh3-idea in 2010 in a serious game (time control: 2h/40 moves, 30min for the rest of the game). The game was really complex and although I made a few inaccurate moves after the opening the game remained quite complex all the time. In the end I managed to win the ending. Theoretically speaken Black must only look at the improvement 25...Rd8, which is given as completely equal by Houdini 1.5.

And what happens after 20.Rd2 ? I think objectively speaking White is better, but in practice Black probably enjoys an equal share of the spoils.

Whites rook is not optimum placed at d2 so Be6 is a good reply when Rb1 is meet by d5. Whites displaced rook at d2 makes the tempo loss irrelevent. White is of couse still objetively speeking little better but in prractical play I think both sides has chanses.

The engine is amazing, it understands positional play much better than any other engine I have used!I quickly checked a few Dragon key lines, particullary in 9 0-0-0, that I assest as equal and both Rybka and Firebird prefered white and Houdino shares my view.So this could actually be interesting since if the engine has right the Dragon is in better shape than ever!

That's right. Houdini takes Black's play in the dragon much more serious than other engines do. I recommend to create a database of critical dragon positions and let Houdini fight these positions out over night with another engine. In the Fritz GUI you can use the "engine match" option for that purpose.

Bye the way, I do now understand the advantages of 19...Bh3 over 19...Be6. Since 20...Bg2 is a threat White should move his rook from h1. The main idea is to remove the defense of the h-pawn (after 20.Rhg1 or 20.Rhe1). After a future d-pawn advance, the h-pawn becomes vulnerable and once the h-pawn is gone, the knight on h5 enters the game via g3. Moreover after the natural 20.Rg1 White has to be even more careful that Black's knight won't find its way to the e2-square (via f4 or g3). So the inclusion of 19...Bh3 20.Rhg1 before 20...Be6 seems to help Black in some critical variations. Every other 20th move of White gives Black new options, so I think that Houdini's number one choice of 19...Bh3 may well be the best move in the position.

I too found 19...Bh3!? about two years ago while looking at the Burnett and thought that it was probably Black's best chance. Nice to hear that other people think the same.

The engine is amazing, it understands positional play much better than any other engine I have used!I quickly checked a few Dragon key lines, particullary in 9 0-0-0, that I assest as equal and both Rybka and Firebird prefered white and Houdino shares my view.So this could actually be interesting since if the engine has right the Dragon is in better shape than ever!

That's right. Houdini takes Black's play in the dragon much more serious than other engines do. I recommend to create a database of critical dragon positions and let Houdini fight these positions out over night with another engine. In the Fritz GUI you can use the "engine match" option for that purpose.

Bye the way, I do now understand the advantages of 19...Bh3 over 19...Be6. Since 20...Bg2 is a threat White should move his rook from h1. The main idea is to remove the defense of the h-pawn (after 20.Rhg1 or 20.Rhe1). After a future d-pawn advance, the h-pawn becomes vulnerable and once the h-pawn is gone, the knight on h5 enters the game via g3. Moreover after the natural 20.Rg1 White has to be even more careful that Black's knight won't find its way to the e2-square (via f4 or g3). So the inclusion of 19...Bh3 20.Rhg1 before 20...Be6 seems to help Black in some critical variations. Every other 20th move of White gives Black new options, so I think that Houdini's number one choice of 19...Bh3 may well be the best move in the position.

The engine is amazing, it understands positional play much better than any other engine I have used!I quickly checked a few Dragon key lines, particullary in 9 0-0-0, that I assest as equal and both Rybka and Firebird prefered white and Houdino shares my view.So this could actually be interesting since if the engine has right the Dragon is in better shape than ever!

I think that 19 .. Be6 20 Rb1 d5! was best try but objetivly speeking white was better but fail to remember why

Hmm, Houdini 1.5 (the new beast, much stronger than Rybka 4) recommends 19...Bh3 instead of 19...Be6 (his second choice). The main idea is to catch the f3 pawn (via Bg2, Bxf3). So White should either move his bishop (allowing Nf4) or move his rook from h1. After the natural 20.Rhe1 Rc8 Houdini already thinks that Black is close to equal. Maybe 20.Rhg1 is better. I don't really get the pattern, but playout results so far have been pretty equal. It seems worth to give it a closer look.

How is Black doing in the Burnett variation (well Yugoslav attack with 9.Bc4 and 12.Kb1 Nc4 13.Bxc4 Rxc4 14.g4 b5 15.b3 b4 line, let's include 16.bxc4 bxc3 17.Qxc3 Qc7)? I remember vaguely that bragesjo has done some work on it, but unfortunately I cannot find it any more.

I have done some analysis, too. I was surprised to find that in most lines Black's chances seem pretty good. The only line which is really worrying me as a dragon player is the line starting with 18.g5 Nh5 19.Ka1. Has anyone found a way to keep chances more or less equal here?